Senior Director of Partnerships

$120,000 - $158,000 a year

Location:

Norman & Oklahoma City Health Campus

OU Education Services (OUES) is a mission‑driven organization dedicated to extending the reach and impact of the University of Oklahoma through high‑quality academic programming, strategic college relationships, and a relentless commitment to student success. Serving both the OU Norman campus and the OU Health Sciences campus in Oklahoma City, OUES works alongside OU’s colleges to develop, sustain, and grow academic programs that serve learners across Oklahoma and beyond.

At OUES, we believe that strong, lasting relationships with academic units are the foundation of everything we do. We work alongside deans, associate deans, and faculty leadership to ensure that every program we support reflects the academic excellence and institutional values of the University of Oklahoma — all while delivering measurable outcomes for students and long‑term financial health for the colleges we serve.

The Senior Director of Program Success is a senior executive role responsible for leading OUES’s program success function and partner engagement across the OU Norman and OU Health Sciences campuses. This leader manages the Program Success team who serve as the primary points of engagement with OU’s colleges. The team works directly with deans and associate deans to develop, manage, and grow a portfolio of academic programs that advance the mission of the university and its colleges.

The Senior Director sets the strategic direction for the program success team and ensures that every program in the portfolio is held to the highest standards of academic quality, student outcomes, and financial sustainability. This role is deeply metrics‑driven, leveraging tools such as the Program Quality Framework to make data‑informed decisions that have real impact on learner success and college portfolio health.

Given the unique complexity of the OU Health Sciences campus, the Senior Director will also have fluency in the distinctive needs of health professions education, including the management of programs with clinical placement, practicum, and field experience components. This requires close collaboration with health college leadership to ensure that clinical training infrastructure supports both student readiness and compliance with regulatory and accreditation standards.

This role demands a high degree of executive presence, vision, and the ability to navigate complex institutional relationships with credibility and care. Regular in‑person engagement at both campus locations (4 days per week) is expected.

• Define and drive a long‑term program success strategy aligned with OUES’s organizational mission and the academic priorities of OU’s Norman and Health campuses.
• Contribute to and execute on OUES’s overall organizational strategy, guiding the program success business unit in alignment with broader institutional goals.
• Create and implement growth and innovation strategies that expand the college program portfolio and deepen OUES’s value to academic units.
• Identify, assess, and manage risks that could affect the academic quality, student outcomes, or financial sustainability of the program portfolio.
• Lead the OU and OUES teams through change, managing the impact of institutional transformations and evolving college priorities on program strategy and operations.

• Build and sustain executive‑level relationships with deans, associate deans, and college leadership across OU’s Norman and Health campuses.
• Lead the team in working with academic units to develop new programs, grow existing offerings, and ensure the ongoing health and quality of the college program portfolio.
• Serve as the senior point of contact for complex or high‑stakes program challenges, ensuring resolution that preserves institutional trust and program integrity.
• Ensure the Program Success team is effectively embedded within the respective colleges, serving as trusted advisors to faculty and academic leadership.
• Leverage the Program Quality Framework, Student Outcomes, Financial Models, and…